Chinese New Year Day 1: River Hongbao 2012

SINGAPORE SERIES

Today's the first day of the dragon year. Singapore is the most quiet I've ever seen it. A lot of the shops and restaurants have been closed since last night. In fact, I almost did not recognize Orchard Road without the hustle and bustle that's the norm during weekends.

Good thing, I did my research and I was armed with a list of activities we could do. You can read about it here. The agenda for today was to try and visit the River Hongbao 2012 Chinese New Year Event at The Float @ Marina Bay.

Just a tip, don't tell the cab driver to take you to The Float. He'll just give you a blank look. Ask to be taken to the Chinese New Year event at Marina Bay and don't get out of the cab until you see the event banners and what looks like it could be what you're looking for. Another option would be to tell the driver to take you to Esplanade and walk from there. Just Saying.

Entrance to the River Hongbao 2012

The River Hongbao 2012 is described to be the biggest New Year Carnival in Singapore, where the float is transformed into a wonderland of culture, food, lights and entertainment. This is almost a direct quote from the website which you can visit here.

I was quite excited to visit it. I thought I'd get to experience Chinese New Year the Singaporean way. But I was done in 5 mins. Maybe I expected too much from the wonderland. Hahaha. Just Saying.

I took pictures, so you can see for yourself. We arrived at around 7pm, so it was just around sunset. The crowds were only starting to arrive.

This was the entrance to the actual Float that they made over Marina Bay.

No matter how over-hyped the River Hongbao event is, you can never go with a view of the Singapore Skyline.

View from The Float @ Marina Bay

There were a lot of lanterns but the highlight of the lantern display was the Martial God of Wealth.

Martial God of Wealth in front of Marina Bay Sands

Unless you are really fond of lanterns, I don't think you'll find much to interest you.

The crowd was starting to arrive.
The River Hongbao with the skyline in the background.

There was also a carnival with overpriced kids rides and overpriced game booths. Think of a perya (neighborhood fair) in the province in the Philippines (yup! I really mean perya... not even Boom na Boom or Star City) which costs a minimum of 2 tokens (that cost SG$5) per ride or per game. It's a good thing, it also did not make it to my daughter's standards, or I would have had to cough up the cash. Hahaha. It was so sad, it did not deserve to have any pictures of it taken. Honestly! Just Saying.

So next on our agenda was to find food for dinner. I also remember reading something about this year’s River Hongbao Food Street that made me look forward to grabbing a meal there.

The River Hongbao Food Street tent

But after seeing this, I decided no way!

It must be really good. Hahaha.

I was actually quite happy because this side of the River was right beside the Double Helix bridge that leads to Marina Bay Sands. (Bringing Sofia to the Double Helix Bridge is one of the things on my Touristy Must Do list.) I immediately convinced Tim that we should just walk over to Marina Bay Sands and grab dinner there instead.

The double helix bridge, Marina Bay Sands and the ArtScience Museum
view from the River Hongbao

River Hongbao 2012 The Float @ Marina Bay and the Singapore Skyline
View from the Double Helix Bridge

My daughter declared it Sofia and Ninong Day

They were running after the letters in the Double Helix bridge. I told Sofia to look for letter S so I could take a picture, but Tim had to tell me that DNA only has G, A, T, and C. Oooops! someone needs to review her Science! Hahaha... But then I re-learned something new again. Yay!

There are alcoves in the double helix bridge where you can go to take pictures with a really nice view.

Family Picture with Ninong who's channeling Mary Poppins
Welcoming the Year of the Dragon

We decided to be practical and have dinner where we could find seats. 

Din Tai Fung, with all these people waiting for seats, was clearly NOT an option.

We got lucky with finding a table in Toast Box, so Toast Box it is! 

The Toast Box in Marina Bay Sands looks more posh than the other Toast Box branches

We asked yaya (the nanny) to stay in line, while I ran to buy Hakaw (Shrimp Dumpling Dimsum) for Sofia and the dessert I've been craving for since we watched Wicked for me.

Fif and Ninong saving our table and seats

I believe in starting the year right.

Kung Hei Fat Choi to Me!!!

I will write about our Chinese New Year Toast Box Dinner and my to die for TWG Macarons separately since this post is about the River Hongbao.

The River Hongbao 2012 is open from 21st to 29th January 2012 (12 noon to 11.30pm) at The Float @ Marina Bay.